Citys bid for grant calls for overhaul of Norris homes

New proposal would replace Norris homes with new housing, retail and park space.

by Patrick McCarthy 08 April 2014

A $30 million grant that would allow for the removal and redevelopment of a North Central Philadelphia public-housing community located near Main Campus may be in the works for the City of Philadelphia.

The Norris Apartments, which contain 147 low-income housing units between Berks and Norris streets east of Main Campus, are the subject of a proposal to be torn down and replaced with 297 mixed income Gold-LEED certified homes, a 10,000 square-foot workforce development center, an 8,000 square-foot community center, 2,000 square feet of commercial retail space, 75 underground parking spaces and a new one-acre community park.

The proposal is an extension of the $30 million CHOICE Neighborhood Improvement Grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development that Philadelphia is one of six finalists for.

Sen. Bob Casey made the announcement under the Temple Regional Rail station abutting the Norris Apartments last week, saying that the $30 million grant would create 600 construction and 300 permanent jobs and would leverage an additional $125 million in funding toward transformative redevelopment in North Central Philadelphia.

The North Central redevelopment plan is backed by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the citys Office of Housing and Community Development and Temple, which will all be playing key roles if Philadelphia wins the five-year grant.

Temples has promised $1.2 million toward neighborhood improvement programs set to be dispersed during a period of five years and contingent upon receipt of the $30 million grant. If Philadelphia receives the grant, Temple will be partnering with EducationWorks to provide high school training programs that would offer afterschool tutoring, college and career training as well as counseling to residents in the newly built homes. Temple would also be creating a new position of CHOICE neighborhoods coordinator.

As the lead education partner were really responsible for coordinating the activities of all the partners and that includes the school district, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation and the United Way who are focused on helping child care centers improve their capacity, Assistant Vice President of Community Relations and Economic Development Beverly Coleman said. Coordination is on a large part of the services that we would provide. We also work closely with the school district to track the progress of youth from Norris homes.

The plan was originally developed by Asociacion de Puertorriquenos en Marcha, a Latino-based community nonprofit that has been in the North Central Philadelphia community for 45 years.

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Citys bid for grant calls for overhaul of Norris homes